Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Wisdom crieth aloud

Hearken ye nations and give heed with ears, for my crimson bridegroom hath spoken. He asked and he hath received.

I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys. I am the mother of fair love and of discernment and of holy hope. I am the fertile vineyard which putteth forth sweet-smelling fruit, and my flowers are flowers of honour and loveliness.

I am the bed of my beloved, around which stand sixty valiant ones girt with swords against the terrors of the night. I am fair and in me there is to be found no flaw.

I look through the window and behold my beloved through the lattice. I wound his heart with a single glance, with one hair of my neck I pierce him.

I am the wisest of the virgins who come forth like the dawn, like daybreak at morning, chosen like the sun, as fair as the moon, making no mention of what lieth within me.

I am as the mighty cedars, as the cypresses of Zion. I am the crown wherewith my beloved wil be crowned upon his wedding day and even am I all his joy, for my name is as a balm poured out.

I am the chosen vineyard unto which the Lord sent workmen at each hour of the day. I am the land of promise wherein wise men have sown gold and silver. If this grain doth not fall into me and die, then it will not bring forth the threefold fruit.

I am the bread from which the poor will eat unto the ending of the world, and shall never again know want.

I give and I ask nothing in return. I give pasture and I fail not. I give safety and am never afeared. What more shall I say unto my beloved? I am she who mediateth between the elements, who goeth betwixt the one and the other.

What is warm I cool and what is dry I make moist. What is cool I warm, and what is moist I dry out. What is hard I soften, and what is soft I make hard.

I am the end and my beloved is the beginning.

I am the work entire, and all knowledge is hidden within me.

I am the Law in the priest, and the word in the prophet, and counsel in the wise man.

I kill and I give life, neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. I offer my mouth unto my beloved and he kisseth me. He and I are one. Who can part us from our love? None in either length or breadth, for love is stronger than death.